Waste is a complex challenge when it comes to reaching a more sustainable society, to achieve this everyone needs to get involved, not only in the own household but also at the workplace. Unsorted waste increases the risk of toxic substances being released in nature as well as a more rapid depletion of resources which then results in an increase of required amounts of energy to be utilized. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence employees’ behaviors regarding waste sorting at municipal workplaces. By gaining a better understanding of the factors that affect this behavior and the role attitudes play in it, obstacles and opportunities for achieving higher levels in the waste hierarchy could be identified. A survey was conducted amongst employees at a Swedish municipality to study what influenced the frequency of the waste sorting they performed. A significant difference between behavior at home and in the workplace was confirmed. The results showed that attitudes about the importance of waste sorting did influence behavior, but there were factors that hindered the behavior from occurring more frequently. Lack of knowledge about waste management, unclear routines, perceived low engagement from colleagues and thus no clearly established social norms, as well as poor access to sorting bins, were factors that proved to disrupt the correlation between attitudes and behavior. The motivation and willingness for more accurate waste sorting exist among employees, but more education, greater access to sorting facilities, and transparency from management are needed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-225808 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Sonehag, Linnea |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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